Douglass Scores 6 As Yale Gets Another Win

Apr 04, 2010

Bulldogs Get Second Straight Win

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – How much can you
expect from two college men’s lacrosse teams squaring off on
Easter Sunday after playing tough, league games the day before? How
about a combined 20 goals, 23 saves and 38 turnovers? Brian
Douglass finished off a prolific weekend with six goals in
Yale’s 12-8 win over Detroit Mercy before 750 on a 70-degree,
sunny day at Reese Stadium.

“The play for both teams was sloppy,” said Yale head
coach Andy Shay. “It never felt clean, but we are happy to
get out of here with a win. We have no excuses.”

The teams may have been tired, but the Matt Gibson (1-5-6) to
Douglass combination was clicking as well as it did to get the
junior attackman seven goals in a win over Penn on Saturday.
Douglass, who finished the weekend with 13 goals and 14 points,
converted four of Gibson’s passes today.

Douglass, who has a team-high 24 goals, hit the net from a
variety of shots. “I was very impressed with Brian [Douglass]
this weekend. He has been working really hard in practice and
shooting the ball very well. Our attack is really starting to
gel,” said Shay.

Yale captain Brendan Gibson, who had a diving, one-handed,
wrap-around tally to give the Blue a 7-5 lead in the third, added
two goals and three points while Gregory Mahony hit the net twice.

“Two games in a row are tough, and the first half really
showed that,” said the Yale captain. “We cleaned it up
in the second and started making smart plays and focusing on making
plays with our heads and sticks rather than our legs.”

Senior Max Rodman, who had all 33 face-offs against the Quakers
Saturday, needed some help today. He won four of 10, while freshman
Cole Yeager made sure Yale never trailed after a 1-0 deficit by
grabbing nine of 13 face-offs.

“Taking 33 face-offs in one game is like wrestling a
bear,” said Shay. “He [Rodman] was wiped out.”

The Bulldogs (6-2) had the advantage in shots (36-28), ground
balls (44-29) and face-offs (13-10), but the Titans (2-8) never
stopped fighting back despite falling behind by three goals three
times in the second half.

Johnathan Falcone, who had 24 stops on the weekend, didn’t
make a save in the first 15 minutes but had 10 the rest of the way.

Yale outshot Detroit 12-3 in the first and A.J. Levell needed
six saves to keep the visitors within one at 3-2. The Bulldogs
broke open a 5-5 game in the second quarter with three straight
tallies.

The Elis, who forced 19 turnovers, beat the Titans to most loose
balls. Defenseman Michael McCormack forced four turnovers while
Phil Gross led the Bulldogs with five ground balls. They certainly
had their hands full with a talented Joel Matthews, who led the
Titans with four goals.

Yale, winners of two straight and next playing at Dartmouth on
April 10, scored 28 goals in the two games this weekend. Matt
Gibson, who leads Yale with 32 points, finished the weekend with
four goals and 11 points, his brother, Brendan (24 points this
spring) added five and nine.